Want to view this page in another language?

English

Deutsch

Light on? Light off? Almost every second person argues about this with their partner

06/01/17

Couples also argue about time spent on smartphones

Almost every second person in Europe argues with their partner about whether the light should be on or off in particular rooms in a house. This was identified by E.ON in a Europe-wide survey of around 8,000 participants.
In Italy and Hungary in particular, the accusation of “You left the light on” is a frequent topic of disputes for more than half of those questioned (52 percent), with Germany a close third. Here 43 percent argue about pressing the light switch.

Around a third of Europeans (30 percent) are often at loggerheads about the second biggest subject of dispute: time spent on a smartphone. In Sweden the accusation of spending too much time on it is more frequent than arguments about the light (29 percent versus 23 percent). The frontrunners in arguments that frequently end with "You love your smartphone more than me" are people in Turkey. There, 41 percent of people accuse their partners of too much tapping away – almost exactly the number that argue about the light (40 percent).

The most peaceable people clearly live in Sweden. Almost half of them (42 percent) find no reason to argue about energy. At the other end of the scale, the Italians remain true to the common cliché, since 81 percent of them argue, indeed take pleasure in arguing, about these topics and no doubt many more – but then hopefully are quickly reconciled.

These results are part of the ‘Living in Europe’ study, for which E.ON and Kantar EMNID questioned around 8,000 people in Germany, the UK, Italy, the Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden, Turkey and Hungary.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by E.ON Group Management and other information currently available to E.ON. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. E.ON SE does not intend, and does not assume any liability whatsoever, to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.